A Jace By Any Other Name
by amg264
Summary: A modern take on a classic love story.


Chapter 1

Clary's POV

"Clary! Come get the last box!" I don't really see the point in unpacking anymore. Everytime we come to a new place, we end up leaving 5 months later. I guess that's what happens when your dad is a traveling business mobile who doesn't want to be away from his family. I love him for it, but I wish I could live in a place long enough to make more than one friend. I reach the bottom of the steps and immediately have a large heavy box pushed into my arms. "Here you go." I put it down on the steps behind me.

"That box weighs a ton." my mom laughs but she knows as well as I do that my 5'2" body, lacking anything close to muscle, is not going to make it up the stairs with that box.

"Then I'll get your brother to help you. Jonathan!" I hear a grunt and a thud then quick footsteps.

"What is it mom are you ok?" I should mention that my older brother Jonathan is very protective. He took the fatherly role in my life since my dad works a lot.

"Yes I'm fine. I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine, my heart will probably start back up in a few minutes." he winks at me and I giggle. "Now why did you call me over here?"

"Please help your sister with the last box." with that she walks outside towards the truck to grab the last boxes. Jonathan grabs the box with ease and smirks at me.

"This little thing too much of a challenge for you sis?" I roll my eyes and scoff playfully.

"Yeah well we can't all be 6'4" and naturally muscular can we?" It's true. As tall as he is, Jonathan is lean, not an ounce of excess body fat to be found. And as for his muscles, he's a year-round athlete; he's bound to have strength.

"No, but if you hadn't been an idiot and quit swimming then maybe you wouldn't need my help." I stay quiet after that, for the simple reason of having no response. He's right, we both know it. I really was a great competitive swimmer, but after all the moving, I never felt like I was part of any of the teams I was on. Plus having red untamable hair and close to no curves made me a walking field day for any mean girls I came across.

"I had my reasons." I sigh and wait for the lecture that is inevitably going to follow my statement.

"You had stupid reasons. Who cares what a dumb blonde with a water bra and a shitty personality thinks? You could smoke every kid on every team you were on. Promise me that you'll at least see what the team is like here. I know that if you start up again you'll be happier."

"I'm too far behind anyway." I actually never stopped training. I still go to the gym 3 times a week and go for a morning run every other day.

"Bull shit. I know that you've kept up with the training. In fact I know that you do more than the required regiment. When you're ready to stop being a baby and turn back into my sister Clary, let me know." And with that he takes the stairs two at a time and I stand here feeling like a loser because I know. I know that he's not only right, but that I've lost some of his respect. He's the only real friend I've ever had, as sad as it may seem, and I don't want to disappoint him more than I already have. That's why tomorrow I will go to my new school, sign up for the team, and kick serious ass.

Jace's POV

"Come on! You have to be cheating!" These stupid people are boring me to pieces. Why anyone tries to validate their faulty performances with lies and excuses is beyond me. The way I see it is they have three options: continue being little bitches and complain about other people, quit and find something new, or get off their asses and work to do better. Admittedly I've never really experienced any of the above, but why be a bitch, quitter, or work if you don't need to?

"Please. It's not my fault you can't win. I suggest you take the money you have left and go home." I really do hope this guy leaves. This was supposed to be something fun for friends, but to a guy in high school a small gathering means inviting everyone in their contact list to join in.

"I'm leaving because I need cab fare, not because of you." Whatever he wants to believe, as long as it means he's gone. Luckily I isolated the party to one room so I won't have too much of a mess to clean up. I stride over to the stereo and turn off the loud music.

"Party's over! Everybody out!" Luckily not all my friends are block-heads and they start evacuating everyone until I'm left with my thoughts and a mess. This is going to take at least 3 hours to clean up. I grab a trash bag and get to work. I surprise myself and finish under 3 hours. Now that everything is clean and neat I want nothing more than to go to bed. I throw on a pair of sweats and a white undershirt, then flop down on my bed with A Tale of Two Cities and end up reading myself to sleep.

I wake to the unpleasant sound of my alarm. I smack the snooze button and sit up. The light coming through the many windows in my bedroom is gray, rain drips down the glass and thunder cracks, muffled by the walls of the large house. I roll out of bed and hop in the shower. After letting the hot water wash away all of my annoyance with last night I put on a pair of black jeans, a white t-shirt, a red flannel buttoned close to the top, and high top black converse. I check my hair in the mirror. It's buzzed on the sides and in the back, and looking slightly shaggy, probably needing a touch up soon. The top is thicker, and I put gel in so it has my usual up-turn in the front. It's no secret to me that I'm handsome, what other reason would girls have to fawn over me the way they do. Well, other than the fact that I'm the best swimmer, runner, and football player at school. I also have straight A's, but no one seems to care about the things that should matter.

I grab my bag, gray beanie, and car keys before locking the front door and getting into my '65 mustang. I drive towards the school, and on my way there I stop at a red light, and out of the corner of my eye I see a flash of red on the sidewalk. I look over and see a shorter girl with fiery red hair walking next to a super tall guy with white blonde hair. I've never seen either of them before. They're talking and suddenly he says something that makes her throw her head back in laughter. I hope for her sake she doesn't go to my school, she's a fresh piece of meat for the Kaylie and her clones. I hear a honk and I drive off leaving the mysterious red-head behind.

Clary's POV

Jon and I walk through the wooden school doors a half an hour before the first bell. I head towards administration with Jon close behind me. I tell the lady who we are and she says to wait for the principal. We sit outside in the main lobby on a wooden bench and I decide to tell Jon my plans for today.

"Jon?" he looks at me with curiosity.

"Yeah?" I drop my head for a second then look back at him.

"I've decided to join the swim team." the look on his face makes me realize that this is definitely the right choice.

"That's great! I'm really happy for you." I feel relieved as can be when the secretary calls us in and a whole new kind of nerves creep up my spine. She leads us to a room behind her desk and a sturdy looking man in a suit who I assume is the principal tells us to sit in the chairs in front of his desk.

"Clarissa and Jonathan Morgenstern is it?"

"I actually go by Clary."

"Well Clary, you and your brother here show tremendous work considering your situation is always changing. Keeping straight A's in all your classes is hard for any student to do, but it's very impressive you've been able to keep up with all the different curriculums you've had to endure.

"We're very capable of adapting." Jon sounds like our father in a business meeting when he speaks to this man. I'm trying in vain to stifle my laughter. He smirks at me then turns back to the conversation at hand. "With all due respect sir, it's our first day and we have no idea where we're going so if we could have our schedules that would be great." His voice is too funny right now, I look out the window to try and stop the urge to laugh. Principal- I look at his name plate- Starkweather, has a really nice view of the city from here. New York is definitely one of the cooler places we've moved to so far. I hope we can stay for a while. I haven't really been paying attention to their conversation but my ears perk up at something Jon says.

"Um...I guess a student aided tour of the school would be ok. Clary what do you think?"

"Hmm? Oh uh...yeah I guess." Why did it get so tense in here? "Can we be excused now?"

"Yes, here are your schedules. Welcome to Idris Academy." We nod and leave the office without another word.

"Here's your schedule." Jon hands it to me and I start to walk off when the receptionist runs out of the office, heels clicking against the tile floors.

"Wait! Your tour!" Oh right. I only agreed to get us out of the office faster. She leads us to a room that is obviously the library, but it's the nicest school library I've ever seen. The shelves are dark mahogany and a large staircase leads up to the second floor, almost every inch of the walls is covered with rows upon rows of books. Large bay windows provide a beautiful view of the city; I love it. "Jace! Jace are you in here?! Ah there you are." I look away from the huge ceiling and see a blonde haired boy who looks about the same size as Jonathan, except his hair, although cut similarly, is more of a sandy tone, and his skin is much tanner. Then I see his eyes, an impossible shade of brown, a more appropriate word being gold. They almost look luminescent.

"You can stop staring at me now." My features suddenly change from wonder to annoyance. Rude much? I look at the floor avoiding all eye contact with him and turn to the receptionist whose name I still haven't bothered to ask.

"We're actually fine on our own, but thank you." I use all of my will to leave the beautiful room filled with new stories to read, but promise myself to come back later. I hear Jon close behind me but he's quickly drowned out by the sound of those damn heels.

"Don't be silly. It's the biggest school in the city, many different wings and halls to learn, Jace will help you. Won't you?" He nods out of respect but doesn't make eye contact with her. Instead he walks towards the door.

"Come on." he sounds bored. It doesn't matter, I'll tell him to get lost when we reach the hall anyway. We get outside and he turns around to face us. "Let's make this quick." I scoff and glare at him. Jon bumps me in the arm as if to say "calm down" but I'm already tired of this prick's attitude.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" the tall blonde turns towards me with a dumbfounded look on his face. "Where do you come off thinking you can talk to us like that? Yeah we're the new kids and apparently that means that people automatically have to be mean to us for some reason but we're still people." just then a smirk breaks out on his face.

"I don't feed into stupid things like tormenting the new kids, but I don't appreciate that stupid receptionist bothering me and telling me to show you guys around when I was obviously busy."

"I'm sure you must be terribly uncomfortable."

"From what?" he asks.

"From having that giant stick shoved up your ass. Talk about your problems with the receptionist with the receptionist. I'm not her and neither is Jon so either show us where to go or leave us alone because it's too early for this." He tries to stare me down, but I hold my ground.

"Guys guys stop." Jon always the peacemaker. "Please just show us where to go and you'll never have to hear from us again, deal?" Jace eyes him skeptically, probably waiting for him to say something snarky like me. Why did I do that? Why did I lose my temper over a guy I met two seconds ago?

"That sounds good." he replies. "We should go before all the other kids start showing up. Give me your schedules." Something on the schedules seems to make him unhappy but he gestures for us to follow him. He stops outside of a room full of lab tables and other materials used for science. "AP chem. this is you." Jon nods as a yes and a thank you then walks into the classroom without another word. We keep walking and go up a flight of stairs before we reach a room full of couches and comfy chairs. I'm confused, I thought my first class was AP english lit.

"Where are we?" he looks at me with that bored expression of his again and he sighs. I say something before he can answer. "Ok look I'm sorry for how I was earlier. I'm a little on edge today and between the secretary and the principal I really wasn't in the mood for anyone else to bother me. I didn't mean to be so harsh, but please stop acting like saying three words to me is equivalent to a trip to hell." He looks shocked.

"It wasn't my intention. But as I said before I wasn't really in the mood to be bothered either. I'm sorry for being disrespectful." I nod and he moves his head towards the door. "This is AP english lit. by the way. It looks more like a lounge than a classroom but that's only because the teacher is pretty cool." I nod and reach for the door handle. He walks in behind me and I sit down on the closest big chair. It's pretty big already, but I already know that it looks comical with me sitting in it. Jace sits in a chair that looks like it should be in front of a fire, and puts his feet up on a classic-looking ottoman. "What's your name?"

"You mean you didn't take a peek at it when you read my schedule?" He speaks articulately and was spending his morning in a library, it shouldn't have taken him that long to read one class name.

"You're smart, snarky, and perceptive. You'd make a great spy."

"Yeah, uh huh my nickname is double 07. Now back to my question."

"Of course I looked. You're Clarissa and whitey is Jonathan. I didn't notice your middles or lasts though. But I asked because anyone can write Clarissa on your birth certificate, but how do I know people don't call you a Larry or Rissa? So pray tell, what is your name?"

"Clary. And yours?"

"Jace." I nod and try to hide my small smile. I've always liked the name Jace. You don't like him. You'll be gone in a few months anyway. I don't know what else to say and thankfully the bell decides to ring right when it looks like he's about to say something. A small group of kids file into the room and sit in the chairs scattered throughout the room in what I see is now a circle formation. A man who looks to be about 26 walks in and immediately makes eye contact. I'm not surprised, my hair sticks out like a sore thumb.

"Are you our new student?" I nod and he smiles; it's warm and welcoming. "Welcome to Idris, why don't you introduce yourself to the class and tell us what the last book you read was." I like that the question I'm supposed to answer fits the class, usually teachers ask me to introduce myself and tell everyone my hobbies or something. I nod and look around at the other kids' faces as I speak.

"Um...my name is Clarissa but you can call me Clary. And the last book I read was A Tale of Two Cities. My eyes meet Jace's for a split second and it looks like he's having an aha moment. Weird.

"A great choice. One of my favorites actually. You wouldn't happen to have a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird would you?"

"Yes I do. I've read it a few times." he smiles and nods a few times.

"That's perfect. We're reading it right now, I'm glad you won't be behind. You can borrow a copy for today but we're short on books so it would be much appreciated if you brought in yours tomorrow." I nod and open the book he hands me to the right page. I hear murmurs behind me and they're very distracting. I listen in and hear the one thing I really hoped wasn't going to happen today. Gossip can be so tiring.

"Can you believe her? Who does she think she is? Like who reads books for fun. Freaks. And what about her hair? If I were here I would've died it as soon as possible, it's such an unfortunate color. And her clothes? Don't even get me started." People suck. I didn't do anything, there's no reason for her to be mean, why does she waste her energy. It honestly doesn't make sense. Eh, not my problem. I pay attention to the discussion and am pleasantly surprised by some of the kids in the class. When the bell finally rings I hand back the book and as I'm about to leave one of the girls who was talking walks up behind me and knocks my bag on the ground. All of my books and paperwork spill out and I groan. I hear giggles and look up to see a girl with dyed blonde hair and an up-turned nose that just reeks arrogance.

"Look girls, it's the new class leprechaun." I roll my eyes and turn back to my task of picking up papers and putting them back in order. I've heard the leprechaun crack a thousand times, and I'm not even Irish. Suddenly a pair of sun-kissed hands show up and start sorting with me. I look up into his golden eyes and he winks. "Hey Jace. Don't bother helping this peasant, her stuff will just end up giving you a disease. Let's go grab a coffee before next class."

"Shut up Kaylie." he sounds pissed and I'm shocked. The way she was talking to him made it seem like they were friends. "You're such a bitch, why do you always have to be so annoying? Don't you get tired of people hating you?" She looks royally pissed off and I'm thoroughly amused. I put the last few things in my bag and sling it over my shoulder ready to escape the blanket of tension in this room.

"People love me. If anyone is hated it's you." She sneers and smirks like that was the best comeback ever. It wasn't even clever. Or funny. Is she def? I laugh and so does Jace.

"Tell that to your two friends, if you're not counting your private friends, A.K.A. half the football team." She gasps and I'm almost crying. "Oh and leave my new friend red alone, or else." I guess he has a reputation of making good on his promises because she doesn't say a word as we walk out of the room.

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